A Blessing on the Moon - Softcover

Skibell, Joseph

3.67

703 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616200189 ISBN 13: 9781616200183

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2010

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Chaim Skibelski was a successful businessman, husband, and father before he was shot along with the other Jews from his small village. Instead of resting peacefully in the World to Come, Chaim wanders the earth and encounters a world that is at once absurd and oddly familiar. His adventures first take him back to his old house, where a Polish family has taken residence, and where he is invisible to all except their young, dying daughter, whom he befriends. When the moon inexplicably falls from the sky, Chaim is beckoned by the town rabbi (who has undergone a remarkable transformation of his own) to accompany him on an extraordinary journey, the consequences of which are greater than Chaim realizes. He meets a talkative head that belongs to the soldier who may have shot him. He visits a grand hotel that caters to the dead with mysterious comforts. And he helps two eccentric holy men search for the fallen moon. Through it all, Chaim manages to find hope and compassion in the most astounding circumstances, discovering beneath the human propensity for destruction the promise of renewal.

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Review:

Throughout history Jews have found themselves disposessed and destitute. Joseph Skibell's A blessing on the Moon tells a similar story. Chaim Skibelski is shot dead and is not even allowed to enter the World to Come, asking the question if maybe to be Jewish means to be wandering for eternity. Skibelski's journey is extraordinary. Travelling through a countryside which is both familiar and alien, the reader is led down a surreal path. Invisible to all but a select few, Skibelski's encounters are strange, dark and sometimes even humorous. After rising from the grave Skibelski wanders the frozen earth. On occasion he is accompanied by his friend the Rabbi, (who has shape shifted in to a talking crow) and sometimes he is alone. The protoganist initially returns to his old home, which is now occupied by Poles. It is from this house that Skibelski's journey begins, encountering more living dead victims of the holocaust along the way. The time line of the novel is never clear--sometimes months pass, sometimes years; however one can be sure that Chaim Skibelski's confusion is far more intense than that of the readers.

Skibell's writing is addictive. The characters are strong and the folktale narrative makes for a really gripping page turner. A Blessing on the Moon is a powerful testimony both to Skibell's family and his race. --Jon Smith

Review:

"Startlingly original . . . Recalls the dark, hallucinatory world of Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird while at the same time surpassing it." --The Washington Post
"Brilliant . . . Astonishing."
--The Boston Globe

"As magical as it is macabre." --The New Yorker
--The Washington Post

"Brilliant . . . Astonishing." --The Boston Globe
--The Denver Post

"As magical as it is macabre."
--The New Yorker

"A compelling tour de force, a surreal but thoroughly accessible page-turner." --Houston Chronicle
--The Boston Globe

"As mesmerizing as a folk tale, as rich as gold itself."
--The New Yorker

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PublisherAlgonquin Books
Publication date2010
ISBN 10 1616200189
ISBN 13 9781616200183
BindingPaperback
Number of pages274
Rating
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  703 ratings by Goodreads

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ISBN 10: 1565121791 ISBN 13: 9781565121799
Publisher: Algonquin Books, 1997
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